Although Election Day is less than three weeks away, residents of Lenoir, Greene and Jones County can put their votes in for the candidates of choice, starting Thursday.

Early voting begins Thursday, with an abundance of candidates in Kinston looking to win the first nonpartisan election in the city.

“I’m hoping for about a 50 percent turnout because we have three candidates running for mayor and eight running for two city council seats,” Lenoir County Elections Director Dana King said. “I hope people are encouraged to get out and vote. Some might think of it as a small election, but these people make big decisions in the community.”

In a poll of 30 residents in Kinston on Tuesday, 22 plan on voting, with seven not planning to and one undecided. Of those 22, 11 will vote early, while four are indecisive.

A strong number of Kinston residents are still learning about the concepts of nonpartisan elections — the elimination of straight ticket and party affiliations on the ballots — as 13 of those polled weren’t familiar with what it entailed.

Kinston resident Barbara Rose agreed with the concept of nonpartisan elections, believing some look at the party, instead of the individual.

“To me, it doesn’t matter if someone is a Democrat or a Republican,” Rose said. “I vote for someone who has plans to fix what I’m concerned about such as the infrastructure and getting new jobs to Kinston. Everyone has their own agenda.”

Not everyone felt the same sentiment. Chawanda Benoit — also from Kinston — felt like nonpartisan elections can confuse some voters.

“I think they should let you know who you’re voting for, because a lot of people vote for whatever party they’re in,” Benoit said.

In Greene County, Board of Elections Director Jane Monroe said she expects to see more people turn out for early voting in Snow Hill than those in Walstonburg, Hookerton and the Maury Sanitary Land District. Still, there won’t be any alternative hours for any town to vote.

“They’ll all have the same one-stop early voting hours,” Monroe said.

Jones County will run with the same laws as Greene County, with residents of the towns not being restricted when it comes to early voting.

“There won’t be different hours for any voter in Trenton, Maysville or Pollocksville,” Jones County Director Gail Lee said.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

Here are the times and addresses of the Board of Elections offices, where residents can vote early in Lenoir, Greene and Jones County starting Thursday: